first shock | video

[electrostatics]

Who: anyone who wants to watch this loser build some terrible construction out of dubious food material
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: SS Caprine
When: September 20, evening

[ What's this? The camera shows the view of the table in the galley.

Someone offscreen is painstakingly constructing....something on a plate, cutting up solids to serve as the construction material. They don't appear to care what flavour it is, only that it's being carefully chopped into bricks and co-opted for the noble purposes of construction.

Occasionally there's movement from the edge of the screen, footsteps to and from the table, and the sound of the protein machine dispensing more of randomly-chosen foodstuff. Gel is carefully layered onto the small, solid 'bricks' of food to create a kind of mortar, and sticks of solid are pressed into service and shaped to provide appropriate support.

It holds solidly together, enough that whatever this person is building is taking shape quite quickly. It appears to be, when it's done...

Some kind of pixel imitation of a spaceship. Thrusters, fins, and all.

They sit back, turning the camera towards them, to reveal someone who doesn't look very human. The camera passes by an untouched plate of dessert cream. ]

I think I used every flavour to make this.[ He motions to the spaceship model on the plate. ] Go ahead and eat it if you want.

[ He sounds bored. After a moment, he stands, picks up the communicator and turns it off. ]

Comments

[deshabille]

[Mal is watching from the doorway, half-curious, half-amused. This is definitely the best introduction to the Caprine so far.]

Not bad.

[electrostatics]

[ He just shrugs, making his way over but still keeping a distance from this person. His personal space bubble extends quite far. ] It's decent for a first try, not knowing the limits and properties of the materials.

[ He glances over at it for a moment, arms crossed. ] It'll stay up, anyway.

I'm Elecman. You are? [ He's able to be polite in a 'blunt object' kind of way if he hasn't been aggravated recently, at least. ]

[deshabille]

For now, until someone tries to eat it or bumps into the table.

[There's a lot of roughhousing on the Caprine, okay. It could easily happen.]

Mal. I'm the captain. And you're . . . [She cocks her head to the side, listening.] You sound like the engine. I like it.

[electrostatics]

It's made out of food. If it stays there for a long time intact, I'll be surprised.

Captain Mal. [ He's in a strange place on a strange ship, in space, without anyone he knows (technically) and without the person he's bonded to the most. In the midst of strangeness, he falls back on formality.

He raises his arm, then lowers it again; things feel so clunky and heavy. The whirr and whine of the rotors and various other parts that make it possible for him to operate this strange new body are barely audible to him. ]

I guess. I'm an engineer, so it fits, anyway. [ Mechanical being servicing mechanical objects. So it goes. ]

[deshabille]

[The formality suits her just fine. She's used to being addressed by her full title, even if it's usually Corporal and not Captain. So she just nods a greeting, still listening - to the rotors and to the cadence of his voice, both at once.]

Really? I'm an engineer, too. I wonder if they thought I wasn't good enough.

[But there's rich good humor in her tone, along with a little arrogance. She's a great engineer, thanks, and mostly just excited to have somebody to chatter excitedly to about gears.]

[electrostatics]

Two heads are better than one. [ It's just practical. ] Besides. [ He flicks his fingers together, creating a sudden spark of electricity. There's a bit of pride in his tone, weak though it is. ] I can do some things without tools, and I can store any information needed as it comes. My memory has no errors.

I heard some of the ships got damaged recently. You've gone over everything here already? [ Down to business, now. He has a clear task ahead of him; it's the best thing that could have been done in these circumstances. ]

[deshabille]

[Oooooh. Now that's interesting. She lights up immediately, both at the spark and at his tone. She generally likes prideful people, generally. They remind her of herself.]

You'll have to show me absolutely everything as soon as possible. [Give her all the new things, give them to her. As to the damage--]

We have, yes, but there's no harm in a fresh set of eyes going over everything.

1/2 ah i cant believe this

[recopy]

[It does start out as an interesting enough video feed, anyway, even if it's kind of...weird....in fact he's not sure if isn't actually an accidental clip, at first. Are those really--? Ah, yes, those are definitely the protein cubes. He knows the look of those well enough by now--even if he's never eaten one, his crewmates have spent plenty of time lamenting about them.

And...some people like playing with their food to make themselves more willing to eat it, probably?? Lan used to do that sort of thing with the soup with the letters in it, he supposes it must be a widespread habit...and he watches as a surprisingly nice and stable little spaceship gets formed out of the cubes and gel. Not bad at all, really. Kind of neat! He's about ready to toss in a compliment to whoever's filming...but then--

The camera actually turns around.]

video; IT BEGINS

[recopy]

[AND WELL THAT COMPLIMENT SURE JUST WENT RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW

Seriously. --No way. No way. He snaps on the video feed without thinking, and he's giving it the most vindictive frown he can muster at the moment while still feeling so completely surprised. REALLY THOUGH....]

Elecman?!

video; HERE WE GO....

[electrostatics]

[ He looks genuinely surprised to get such an angry reaction, and his reaction is very...casual, for him. If awkward. ]

Ah...hey, Megaman.

Something wrong? [ He sounds genuinely puzzled, too. ]

flamingelmo.gif

[recopy]

[--Well, alright, that was...also not the kind of reaction he was actually expecting. Surprise was maybe not--the first thing he'd been anticipating here. Also...]

S-Something wrong? [WHY ARE YOU REFERRING TO HIM SO CASUALLY...why are you asking that so casually..... It enough to catch him a bit off-guard, but after a moment he leans into his indignation a bit more in an attempt to make up for the confusion. Ah, he needs to be careful, he's probably just getting strung along here--] Yeah, I think there's something wrong! What are you doing here? [FOLDING HIS ARMS NOW] Is your Operator here too?

[electrostatics]

[ His expression sets into something between irritation and confusion. When he speaks again, his voice is almost sulky; he sparks, here and there, wayward little lightning bolts crawling over his armor that fade quickly. ]

It's not like I asked to be here, so why don't you complain to the ship. Like it'll do you any good.

[ That last question, though, catches him off guard. ]

If he was here, do you think I'd be messing around like this? I have to take care of him, so it's not like I'd leave him alone! [ The first thing he'd done had been look for his operator. The last few words of that phrase are almost a snap. ]

[recopy]

Well, I mean--

[And...Megaman does falter now, for a moment. The vehemence is actually slightly more familiar than the earlier casualness had been, too, so that should have been more like some kind of relief--but no, it just doesn't parse quite right. Elecman sounds less flippantly offended and more personally so, and that's a bit...

A small voice in the back of his head knows that maybe he is being just slightly illogical here. The first question had been a kneejerk one--how else could have Elecman gotten all the way out here in space if he hadn't been pulled here just like anyone else? And of course, with that in mind, the chances of him actually arriving with his Operator are even more slim...

But the last thing he remembers about this guy is that whole business with the basement and the power plant at SciLab. It's difficult to forget, a Navi's perfect memory besides. And he remembers another WWW member too, seemingly mellowed out and ready enough to redeem--until he'd set the entire SciLab on fire with Dad in it. And he'd made Lan unwittingly set that up, too...

Megaman pauses, shifting uncomfortably from his end of the feed, but the frown remains firmly in place.]

--Alright, so I guess you probably got taken here by Atroma too. [Even if he couldn't guess why...what's entertaining about cyber terrorists?? He certainly doesn't know.] But--but even if your Operator isn't here, and the WWW isn't either, don't think I won't be keeping an eye on you! I haven't forgotten what you pulled last time, and this is definitely not the place for it!

Video

[alwayscomeback]

I'm torn.

I mean, it looks really cool. You've got a real scale-model thing going there. Top marks for ingenuity.

On the other hand, 'every flavour' is probably gonna taste terrible. Affront to the taste buds, y'know?

video

[electrostatics]

Well, I don't eat, so that sounds like someone else's problem. [ So polite. ] Besides, you can just pick the cubes off individually, so it's fine. It's not like you have to put the whole thing in your mouth.

[alwayscomeback]

Like... at all? That's really depressing, man.

[He genuinely sounds so sad about that. Poor guy.]

I don't know, some people might be up to that challenge. Does it have a lot of meat-flavour in it? It's an important question.

[electrostatics]

I don't need to eat, so I don't see what's depressing about it. [ And he can't really taste stuff anyway?? No point. ] It's not like I'm human.

I did use a lot of protein for the supports and the roof, if that's what you mean. It's not like I mixed all the flavours together. I know enough about cooking to know that's a bad idea. [ It's basically savory on top and sweet on the bottom.

Elecman wait if you don't eat why do you know about cooki...never mind. ]

[alwayscomeback]

I happen to think eating is a wonderful experience for anyone. It makes me sad anyone's missing out on it, human or not.

[Hmmm HMMMM. ]

I think I'd enjoy some roof, then! Delicious, delicious roof.

[electrostatics]

You can't miss what you've never had, so I don't think I'm going to suffer for it.

[ HE'S SO POLITE

He just looks at Sokka for a moment, and then obligingly zooms in. What do you want him to do, man, shove it through the screen ]

[nextlineis]

[Yes, hello. If you're not gonna eat that...]

[Joseph's just gonna pick the untouched dessert up slowly and quietly since the new guy seems distracted, but he's grinning because this seems like a very easy steal.]

[electrostatics]

[ He just kind of turns around to watch Joseph. Not really judging, just...he just seems to be mildly interested. ]

You could have just asked. [ He seems, at least, to find it kind of funny more than aggravating. It's not like it's something he needs. ]

[nextlineis]

Oh uh... [Think of something, Jojo. C'mon. You can do it.] You looked busy?

[...Sure. Let's go with that.]

[electrostatics]

Is that really the best you could come up with? [ He just shakes his head...he's just being an ass, really. ] Whatever. It's no hassle for me anyway. I don't even eat.

[nextlineis]

[Joseph looks mildly perturbed at that, looking him up and down.]

You don't?

[electrostatics]

[ Shrugs at him. ]

Do I look like something that normally eats? It'd probably just jam up my machinery.